Kovalcik@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA.UUCP (04/03/87)
When I tried to tell New England Telephone the FCC Registration Numbers and Ringer Equivalences of my phones when I moved into a house in Waltham, Mass. two years ago, they weren't interested at all. They didn't even bother to take the information down and say "that's nice". My understanding is that if you have too many ringers on the line some or all may not ring properly. I have heard that 1 to 3 ringers are indistinguishable from the central office. It is also my understanding that if you have too many phones off hook (talking / listening) at once, the sound quality will be bad. On the other hand, when my grandmother was given a phone as a gift in New York City and made the mistake of calling to give them the information, they started billing her an "extenstion phone wiring fee" and touch tone service charges! The phone wasn't touchtone, but the pushy salesperson at the ATT Phone Center Store tried very hard to convince the person buying the gift to get touchtone and even when they didn't, wrote down the touchtone registration number on the box. When I called about this "extension phone fee" and told them that inside wiring was deregulated, they said they would be very happy to stop charging the fee if they came out to the house, installed an interface jack (or whatever they are called) where the line came into the house, cut up all the existing wiring that they had put it over the years, and charged $50 (probably more now). I decided it was easier for my grandmother to pay the dollar or so extension phone wiring fee. At least, I did get the touchtone charges removed. Now, these silly interfact jacks are useful in some ways. I have had a couple of friends have their line go dead (open or short). In both cases, removing all the wires from the junction box in the basement / whereever they entered the building proved to our satisfaction that the problem was outside the house (i.e. problem stayed the same when all the interior wiring was out of the circuit). Getting the phone company to fix the problem without demanding that you stay home to let them in is a major pain. In one case the party succeeded. In the other case my friend had to stay home from work to let the phone company come in and say "yep, you were right; the problem is outside". Presumably if you have an interface jack you have more of a chance to convince them that the problem isn't with interior wiring. On the other hand, if the phone company had to pay you if the problem was outside your house and you had to stay home, just as you have to pay them if they try to fix the problem and it is inside your house, I bet they wouldn't be asking people to stay home for nothing.